PETA India has chosen Kolkata as India’s most vegan-friendly city of 2025. It presented the award to Mayor Firhad Hakim.
This choice may surprise many as Kolkata is widely celebrated for its non-vegetarian offerings. While all of North India fasts and eats sattvic foods during Durga Puja, Kolkata goes all out with its extensive non-veg dishes.
According to PETA, Bengali cuisine already offers many vegan dishes that people often overlook, such as aloo posto, aloo chop, cholar dal, tomato khejur chutney and phuchka. These are vegan foods when they are made without ghee.
Kolkata’s food scene also promotes plant life through restaurants like Barma Barma and The Flaming Bowl. It also has cafes like Aldo Cafe, Out and Beyond, Glenburn Cafe and Sienna Store and Cafe. They serve plant milk.
Vegan cake and ice cream available at The Daily. Oven to Plate cloud bakery is fully vegan. Online retailer Vegan Daily even offers vegan seafood. Classic dishes can therefore be prepared without cruelty. Vegan World is also the first vegan food distribution company in East India.
Kolkata’s vegan movement is also reflected in the growing culture of animal-friendly fashion. Local brands like Eori produce high-quality, sustainable, plant-based leather, according to PETA.
PETA also recognizes Ganga House. It offers stylish vegan accessories such as bags, wallets, purses and scarves that look luxurious without the use of animal skins.
Earlier this year, Kolkata hosted a special Durga Puja theme by PETA India. It promoted compassion for animals, offered vegan snacks, and proposed replacing horse-drawn carriages with historic-style motor vehicles. Kolkata is also home to an active Facebook group called Kolkata Vegans.
‘Unexpectedly adorable’
According to PETA’s Dr Kiran Ahuja, Kolkata’s food, fashion and events make it a great destination for vegans.
“From delicious plant-powered Bengali food to sustainable vegan fashion and animal-friendly galas, Kolkata is an unexpectedly welcoming destination for vegans and the vegan-curious,” said Dr Ahuja.
PETA India says animals raised for food suffer greatly. In factory farms, thousands of chickens are locked in overcrowded sheds filled with ammonia fumes. They have no fresh air, space or anything natural.
These chickens and other animals are then pushed into trucks for slaughter. There, many are injured, suffocated or die on the way.
In slaughterhouses, goats, sheep and others often have their throats cut with blunt knives. PETA also says fish are being choked or cut up alive on the boats.
According to PETA, going vegan can save nearly 200 animals per person per year. It also helps reduce pollution, land use, water wastage and climate damage.
